Western Culture
The Parthenon was built approximately 2500 years ago and dedicated as a temple to Athena, the Greek goddess. It was used by the Athenians first as a church, then as a mosque, before later becoming an archeological ruin (British Museum, n.d.). Its use as a gunpowder store during the 1687 Venetian reign in Athens caused its roof to be blown off, leaving the Parthenon a mere ruin, and destroying most of the sculptural decorations. Just as the nineteenth century was commencing, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, which controlled Athens at the time, obtained permission from the Ottoman rulers to remove the surviving structures and transport them to Britain. They are, to this day, on the display in the British museum. The Greek government has, since the 1980s, fought to have the sculptures returned to Athens, a stand that has been supported by the EU, UNESCO, and a bulk of the British population. The British government, on the other hand, objects to this stand and continues to hold on to the sculptures, arguing that they do not represent the Greek culture only, as they have since transcended political boundaries and become a shared symbol of the world's heritage (TED Case Studies, n.d.).
I am in support of the Greek government for two major reasons. First, since the structures are part of the Parthenon, which is still in existence in Greece, they are more symbolic to the Greek culture than they are to the rest of the world. Anyone who wishes to view them should, therefore, do so from Greece. Secondly, the structures were 'forcefully' taken since Lord Elgin did not have the consent of the Greeks (the natives). This implies that he was not granted a valid legal title to the marbles (TED Case Studies, n.d.).
References
TED Case Studies. (n.d.). The Elgin Marbles. TED. Retrieved from http://www1.american.edu/ted/monument.htm
The British Museum. (n.d.). The Parthenon Sculptures. The British Museum. Retrieved from http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/statements/parthenon_sculptures.aspx
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